Pot-filling apparatus for glass-furnaces.



P. HOFFMANN. PoT FILLING APPARATUS FOR GLASS PURNAGBS.

APPLIOATIONAFILBD 00T.28, 1909. 1,029,444.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented June 11 1912.

Ilunilu"l lmlllm'l COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH Co.,wASHlNGToN. D. c.

P. HOFFMANN.

PoT PILLING APPARATUS PoR GLASS PURNAGES.

APPLICATION FILED 0 1,029,444. 0T 28 1909 Patented June 11, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

attorney;

mm. P @l COLUMNA PLANOGRAPH co\v^SHlNGToN. n. cA

P. HOFFMANN. POT FILLING APPARATUS POB, GLASS FURNACBS.

APPLICATION FILED 0T.2B, 1909. 1,029,444, Patented June 11, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WW1/woo@ COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH C0., WASHINGTON. D. c.

PETER HOFFMANN, or TARENTUM, PENNSYLVANIA.

POT-FILLING APPARATUS FOR GLASS-FURNCES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Application filed October 28, 1909. `Serial No. 525,231.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER HOFFMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tarentuin, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Pot Filling Apparatus for Glass-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

erator of the crane of a factory, and capable of expeditiously supplying the pots of a glass furnace with the material or mixture from which the glass is made, whereby a saving in time will be effected and the excessive loss of heat from furnaces effectually prevented.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

structed in accordance with this invention, the furnace being in section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of thev appara-` tus. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the saine. Fig. 4L is a transverse sectional view, taken substantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the guide for the plunger. Fig. 6 is al longitudinal sectional view, illustrating another form of the cylindrical chute. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view of the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring particularly to the embodiment o-f the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, 1 designates a cylindrical chute, pivotally mounted by the means hereinafter described and adapted to be introduced into a glass furnace 2 through the opening 3 for supplying the pot 4 with the material from which plate or other glass is made. In order to prevent the discharge end of the cylindrical chute from melting` off when it is introduced into the glass furnace, the chute is provided with a continuous water passage, extending back and forth from one end of the chute to the other and entirely surrounding the chute. This passage, which is designed to be fed with cold water for the purpose of cooling the chute, is preferably formed by an annular series of longitudinal pipes 5 and connecting couplings 6, which are embedded in the cast metal 7 of the cylindrical shell, the metal being cast around the annular series of piping and entirely incasing the same and presenting smooth inner and outer surfaces. ln the completed shell, the pipes 5 are einbedded in the metal, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and e of the drawings, and a feed pipe 8 is connected by a suitable valve 9 with one end of the piping, and an exhaust or discharge pipe 10 is connected by a suitable valve 11 with the discharge end of the piping. The valves control the flow of water through the entire passage of the shell of the chute to enable the chute to be maintained in a suiiiciently cool condition to prevent the melting of the discharge end of the chute. The supply pipe 8, which may be connected with the water passage of the cylindrical chute at any point on the same, is connected with an elevated source of supply, as illustrated in Fig. 1 in order to insure a complete filling of the water passage or space within the walls of the chute, but water under pressure may be employed for this purpose, and the cold water may be forced into the passage under any pressure to secure the necessary cooling action of the water jacket.

The chute is arranged in an approximately seinicircular support 12, forming a seat for and conforming' to the configuration of the bottom portion of the chute and having terminal pivots or trunnions 13, which are arranged in bearing openings of a hanger frame 14, composed of spaced sides and a connecting bottom portion 15. The sides may consist of upper and lower sections having laterally projecting portions 16, secured together by bolts 17, or other suitable fasteningmeans and forming journal boxes for t-he journals or trunnioiis of the pivotal support 12. The hanger is pro-l crane 21 with which theJ factory is equipped. n

By means of the crane, the hopper and the chute may be transferred to any point with- .15 in the factory, and the chute may be easily and quickly introduced into a furnace, so that the pots thereof may be expeditiously filled without excessive loss of heat from the furnace through allowing the same to remain open too long. Also by this arrangement the apparatus may be controlled by the operator of the crane. i

The hopper is provided with a reduced lower end 22, which is rectangular and 25 which extends into a rectangular neck or casing 23. The neck or casing, which is provided at the bottom with attaching flanges, is mounted upon the cylindrical chute at an intermediate point between the ends thereof, and extends upward from an inlet opening 24. The material falls from the hopper into the chute, and the passage of the material into the chute is controlled by a slidable cut-off 25, mounted in grooves or ways 26 of the neck or casing. The grooves or ways may be conveniently formed by stamping the metal outward from the inner faces of the side and front walls of the neck or casing, but any other suitable means may be employed for mounting the cut-off, which is movable through an opening 27 in the rear wall of the neck or casing. The material is expelled from the chute by a reciprocable plunger or piston 28, constituting a force feed and having 'a head constructed of wood, or other suitable material and provided with a rod 29, slidable through a stuffing box 30 of a head or end 3l, which is secured to the inner or rear end of the cylindrical chute. The head or end 31 is provided with an annular flange 32, fitting within the chute and detachab'ly secured to the same by means of thumb screws 33, or other suitable fastening means. The rod of the piston or plunger also reciprocates through Va guide 34, spaced from the stufiing box and consisting of a post or standard having a tubular upper portion 35. The tubular upper portion 35 is arranged horizontally, and the bearing is equipped with upper and lower anti-friction rollers 36, which provide a frict-ionless guide for the piston rod. The post or standardv of the guide 34 is provided atthe bottom with an attaching flange 37, and is bolted or otherwise secured to a horizontal supporting plate or bracket 38.

The supporting plate or bracket is provided at its inner or front end with a suitable attaching flange 39, which is suitably secured to the cylindrical shell. The rear end of the bracket is provided with suitable bearings 40, in which is journaled a crank shaft 41, having a centrally arranged crank bend 42, from which motion is communicated to the piston or plunger rod by a pitman 43. A pulley 44, which is mounted on the crank shaft, is connected by a belt 45 with a smaller pulley 46 of the power shaft of an electric motor 47, mounted on the rear end of the cylindrical shell at one side of the center thereof, and connected by' current' wires 48 and 49 with a controller 50, located within the box 51, provided on the crane for the accommodation of the operator. A suitable switch 52 is connected with the wires 48 and 49 for cutting the motor out from the controller. Vhen the current is turned on, motion is communicated therefrom to the crank shaft through the belt and pulleys, and the plunger is reciprocated and simultaneously actuates the slidable cut-off, which is opened when the plunger is moved rearwardly.

The piston or plunger rod is provided at an intermediate point wit-h a threaded portion 53, which engages a threaded opening 54 of an arm 55, extending upwardly from the piston or plunger rod 29, and yieldably connected with the cutfofl by means of the horizontal rods or members 56 and 57. The rod 56, which is secured to the slidable cutoff, is equipped with a cylindrical casing 58 for the reception of a coiled spring 59, and the other member 57, which is connected with the arm 55, extends through the adjacent end of the casing 58 and is provided Y with a head 59a, which engages one end of the coiled spring. The slidable cut-off is positively moved rearwardly to its open position, in which movement the head 59a en* gages the adjacent end of the casing and when the cut-0H is moved forwardly to close the hopper, it is yieldably actuated, and if the material should clog in the neck or casing and interfere with the closing movement of the cut-off, the piston will be permitted to complete its stroke without injuring the said cut-off. The cut-off and the piston or plunger are simultaneously operated and driven at a uniform speed,

The outer end of the bracket is adjustably supported at the desired elevation by means of Aa vertical bar or leg 60, mounted in a vertical guide 61 of the bracket 38 and provided at its rear edge with teeth 62, form ing a rack and meshing with a pinion 63, which is adapted to be rotated to raise and lower the leg with respect to the bracket 38. The pinion is mounted on a stub -shaft 64 and is equipped with an operating handle G5 by means of which it may be conveniently rotated to operate the leg or support of the bracket. The leg is adapted to tilt the chute, and in practice there will be a sufficient play between the lower reduced end of the hopper land t-he neck or casing to permit the necessary pivotal or oscilla-tory adjustment of the chute.

nstead of constructing the chute in cylindrical form, it may be of any other preferred shape, and when it is desired to pro- Y vide a comparatively cheap chute, it may be constructed as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings. n this embodiment of the invention, the chute consists of spaced inner and outer concentric cylinders 64 and 65a, connected at their terminals by flange rings 6G, which are riveted or otherwise secured to the ends of the cylinders. The cylinders form an interior space and provide a water jacket, the water being introduced into the space between the cylinders by a` lower feed pipe 66EL and discharging there-from through an exhaust or out-let pipe 67. rlhe chute is also preferably provided wit-h a safety valve 68 for the escape of steam, should the same accumulate in the chute under pressure.

The cylindrical chute may, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, be provided at the botto-m with a clean-out opening 69, or as shown in Fig. 6, the head or end of the chute may be provided with an opening 70, arranged near the bottom of the chute. This opening is designed to enable sander other accumulation, which might fall behind the plunger, to be scraped from the chute, so as to prevent wear of the plunger.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a chute, a hopper connected with the chute for supplying the same with material, a cutoff for controlling the passage of the material from the hopper to the chute, feeding means for expelling the material from the chute, a mot-or carried by the chute and operatively connected with the feeding moans and with the cut-off for actuating the same, and means for moving the chute into and out of a. furnace, said means suspending the chute from the track and allo-wing the chute with the hopper and the motor to move as one part in introducing the chute into fand removing it from a furnace.

2. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a chute, a hopper' connected with the chute for supplying the same with material, a cut-olf for controlling the passage .of the material from the hopper to the chtite, feeding means for lexpelling the material from the chute, a motor carried by the chu-te and operatively connected with the feeding means for actuating the same, means for coimecting the cut-off with the feeding means, whereby the feeding means andthe cut-olif will be simultaneously actuated by the motor, and means for moving the chute into and out of a furnace, said means suspending the chute from the track and allowing the chute with the hopper and the motor to move Ias one part in introduc ing the chute into and removing it from a fur-nace.

3. An apparatus of the class described including a chute adapted to be introduced into a furnace, a hopper connected with the chute for supplying' the same with material, a cut-ofi for controlling the'passage of the material from the hopper to the chute, a plunger for expelling the material from the chute, means connected with the plunger for actuating the same, and yieldable means for connecting the cut-off with the plunger to permit an independent operation of the latter.

4. An apparatus of the class described including a chute adapted to be introduced into a furnace, a hopper connected with the chute for supplying the same with material, a cutoff for controlling' the passage of the material from the hopper to the chute, a plunger for expelling the material from the chute, means connected with the plunger for actuating the same, and yieldable means connecting the cutoff and the plunger and consisting of telescopic members and an interposed spring adapted to permitv an independent operation of the plunger.

5. An apparatus of the class described including a chute adapted to be introduced into a furnace, a hopper connected with t-he chute for supplying the same with material, a cut-off for controlling the passage of the material from the hopper to the chute, a plunger for expelling the material from the chute, means connected with the plunger' for actuating the same, an arm extending from the plunger, rods connected, respectively, with the cutoff and the said arm, a casing mounted on one of the rods and receiving the other rod, and a coiled spring housed within the casing' and forming a yieldable connection to permit an independent movement of the plunger.

6. An apparatus of the class described including a chute, means for moving the chute into and out of a furnace, means for supplying the chute with material, a plunger for expelling the material from the chute, a bracket extending from the chute, a crank shaft mounted on the bracket in rear of the plunger and connected with the same, a motor carried by the chute, and gearing for connecting the crank shaft with the motor.

7. An apparatus of the class described including a chute provided at its rear end with a stuffing box, means for moving the chute into and out of a furnace, means for supplying material to the chute, a bracket mounted on and carried by the chute and extending rearwardly therefrom, a plunger operat-ing in the chute for expelling the material and having' a rod extending through the stuiiing box, a guide mounted on the bracket and spaced from the stuthng box and receiving the plunger rod, a crank element mounted on the bracket in rear of the guide and connected withthe plunger rod, and means for operating the crank element.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a crane, of a hopper provided with means for suspending it from the crane, a chute communicating with and carried by the hopper, a cut-offl for controlling the fiow of material from the hopper to terial from the chute, and means arranged to be operated from the crane for actuating the cut-off and the plunger.

9. An apparatus of the class described including a portable hopper, a chute located beneath and communicating with the hopper, means for pivotally suspending the chute from the hopper, and means for moving the hopper forwardly and rearwardly to introduce the chute into and remove the same from a furnace. Y

10. An apparatus of the class described including a portable hopper, a hanger secured to and depending from the hopper, an approximately horizontal chute pivotally mounted within the hanger and communieating with the hopper and carried by the same, and means for moving the hopper forwardly and rearwardly to introduce the chute into and remove the same from a furnace.

11. An apparatus of the class described including a portable hopper, a hanger secured to and depending from the hopper and provided with a pivotal supporting member, a chute communicating with the hopper and mounted within the frame on the said pivotal member, and means for moving the hopper -forwardly and rearwardly to introduce the chute into and remove the same from a furnace.

Y 12. An apparatus of the class described including a hopper, a hanger secured to and depending from the hopper and provided at oppositesides with bea-rings, a supporting member extending across the hanger and having journals arranged in the bearings, and van approximately horizontal chute located beneath and communicating with the hopper and mounted within the hanger upon the said supporting member.

13. An apparatus of the class described including a hopper, a hanger comprising spaced sides, a connecting bottom portion,

and a top attaching band extending around and secured to the lower portion of the hopper, and a chute mounted in the hanger and located beneath and communicating with the hopper.

14. An apparatus of the class described incuding a track, an approximately horizontal pivotally supported chute, means for suspending the chute from the track and for introducing the same into a furnace and for removing it therefrom, and an adjustable supportconnected with the outer end of the chute and arranged to rest upon the floor or supporting surface to maintain the chute in its pivotal adjustment.

15. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a pivotally mounted chute adapted to be introduced into and removable from a furnace, means for suspending the chute from the track, and an adjustable support connected with the outer end of the chute and arranged to rest upon the floor or supporting surface to maintain the chute in its pivotal adjustment.

16. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a pivotally mounted chute, means for suspending the chute from the track and for moving the same backwardly and forwardly, and a slidable supporting leg connected with the outer end of the chute and carrying a rack, and a pinion meshing with the rack for raising and lowering the supporting leg with respect to the chute. Y

17. An apparatus of the class described including a pivotally mounted chute adapted to be introduced into a furnace, a bracket extending rearwardly therefrom and having a guide, a supporting leg mounted in the guide and provided with a rack, and a pinion meshing with the rack and adapted to raise and lower the leg with respect to the bracket. v

18. An apparatus of the class described including a hopper provided with means for suspending it from a crane, a hanger depending from the hopper, an approximately horizontal chute pivotally mounted within the hanger and located beneath and c ommunicating with the hopper to receive the material therefrom, and a depending adjustable support connected with the chute and adapted to maintainV the same in its pivotal adjustment.

19. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a carriage mounted thereon, a suspending device from the carriage, a hopper carried by the suspending device, an approximately horizontal chute connected with and supported by the hopper and projecting beyond the same and movable into and out of a furnace by the said carriage, a force feed device within the chute, and a motor carried by the chute and operatively connected with the force feed device and moving with the chute in its backward and forward movements.

20. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a carriage mounted thereon, a suspending device from the carriage, a hopper with a chute connected to the suspending device, said hopper communicating with the chute, a plunger for expelling material from the chute, a crank element, a pitman connecting the crank element with the plunger, and a motor carried by the chute and moving with the same in the backward and forward movements thereof and operatively connected with the crank element for actuating the plunger.

21. An apparatus of the class described including a track, a carriage mounted thereon, a suspending device from the carriage, a hopper with a chute connected to the suspending device, said hopper communicating with t-he chute, a plunger for expelling material from the chute, a crank shaft having a crank element, a pitman connecting the crank element with the plunger, a motor carried by the chute and moving with the same in its backward and forward movements, and gearing connecting the motor with the crank shaft.

22. An apparatus of the class described comprising a track, a carriage mounted thereon, a suspending device from the carriage, a hopper with a chute connected to the suspending device, said hopper communicating with said chute, a force feed device within the chute, a cut-oif for controlling the passage of material from the hopper to the chute, and a motor carried by the chute and operatively connected with the force feed device and with the cut-off and moving with the chute in its forward and backward movements.

23. An apparat-us of the class described including a track, a chute provided at an intermediate point in its top with an opening, a hopper connected with the chute for supplying material through the said opening, a cut-off for controlling the passage of the material from the hopper to the chute, a plunger operating within the chute for expelling material therefrom and movable inwardly beyond the opening in the top thereof, a motor mounted on the chute and operatively connected with the plunger, and means for moving the chute into and out of a furnace, said means suspending the chute from the track and allowing the chute with the hopper and motor to move as one part in introducing it into the furnace and in removing it therefrom.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, l have hereto afxed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PETER HOFFMANN.

Witnesses:

ROY VEIDIG, THEATON TI-IIMoNs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

